Surveillance Officer

Job Description

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The mission of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme (WHE) (The Programme) is to build the capacity of Member States to manage health emergency risks and, when national capacities are overwhelmed, to lead and coordinate the international health response to contain outbreaks and to provide effective relief and recovery to affected populations.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

1. Support the development of technical documents for integrated disease surveillance including tools and indicators at the national, subnational and community levels.
2. Technically review reports, proposals and other technical documents relevant to surveillance activities and programs, within the context of outbreaks and health emergencies at the country level.
3. Monitor the implementation of International Health Regulations (IHR) in the process of detection, verification and risk assessment of reported public health events.
4. Carry out public health intelligence activities through the collection of relevant information from a broad range of sources including non-health sectors, to enhance real-time detection of outbreaks and forecasting.
5. Work closely with WHO Team and counterparts in local, regional and national health entities and other international health partners including UN agencies and NGOs to support surveillance, rapid assessment, and response activities for epidemic-prone diseases.
6. Closely follow up with the Ministry of Health and Population and other partners on the proper and timely implementation of the surveillance activities.
7. Conduct regular field monitoring and evaluation visits to provide feedback, and technical advice on the implementation of surveillance activities.
8. Perform all other related duties as assigned.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: University degree in epidemiology, statistics, database management or public health from an accredited/recognized institute.
Desirable: Advanced university degree in quantitative epidemiology or health related field. Specialized training in communicable diseases.

Experience

Essential: At least one year related experience in quantitative epidemiology and the implementation of public health surveillance, outbreak investigation and response in humanitarian settings.
Desirable: Prior humanitarian working experience at field level with WHO, other UN agencies, health cluster partners, recognized humanitarian organizations or with an international non-governmental organization.

Skills

• Demonstrated ability to work independently and proactively.
• Demonstrate ability to work in challenging and multidisciplinary settings.
• Good knowledge of surveillance and monitoring systems as related to emergency response relief operations, complemented by skills in the field of epidemiological or statistical data collection, assessment, analysis and the evaluation and monitoring in a public health context.
• Good knowledge of the right to health in the context of the country and health systems approaches to improving health rights.
• Knowledge of the public health aspects of infectious disease control, epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response.

Desirable: Professional skills on the application of an all-hazard approach in the context of the International Health Regulations and the use of event based and indicator-based surveillance, as well as descriptive epidemiology and principles of public health in communicable disease surveillance and response.

WHO Competencies

• Teamwork
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
• Communication
• Producing results
• Ensuring the effective use of resources

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Excellent knowledge of English. Excellent knowledge of Arabic.
Desirable: Working knowledge of French.

Other Skills (e.g., IT)
• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office applications.
• Working knowledge of online data collection applications, statistical analysis packages (Stata, SPSS, etc).
• Working knowledge of GIS mapping software (or similar) would be an asset.

Closing Date: Oct 6, 2022